Incumbent Lee County school board member Mary Fischer retained her school board seat Tuesday, but the other three races will need runoffs to decide the winners.

The runoffs for the districts 4 and 5 seats will put candidates who support the Lee County school district's half-cent sales tax against candidates who oppose the tax. In the District 6 runoff, both candidates are supporters of the tax.

The runoff could lead to voters electing the first minority candidates to the school board. Gwyn Gittens came in first in the District 5 race, and Nicholas Alexander placed second in the District 6 race.

“I am very excited,” Gittens said. “I am very happy that people across the board resonated with my message."

►Fischer, the District 1 board member, received 55.9 percent of the vote to Charles Dailey's 44 percent. Fischer was first elected to the board in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. She is a former Lee County school district teacher and counselor.

"I am honored for the support, and I am looking forward to getting right back to work," Fischer said.

►Don Armstrong (33.7 percent) and Debbie Jordan (31.9 percent) will face each other in a runoff election for the District 4 seat. District 4 school board member Steven Teuber did not seek re-election.

►The other incumbent running for re-election, Pam LaRiviere of District 5, will face Gittens in a runoff. Gittens received 33.7 percent of the vote to LaRiviere’s 28.7.

►In District 6, Alexander and Betsy Vaughn were the top vote-getters. Vaughn came out on top, receiving 29.2 percent of the vote to Alexander’s 26.9. District 6 board member Jane Kuckel, did not run for re-election.

Nicholas Alexander(Photo11: Cory O'Donnell/News-Press)

One of the biggest issues in the school board races was the sales tax. The school district wants voters to pass a half-cent sales tax referendum on Nov. 6. The district wants to put more than $754 million toward building new schools, school safety, the maintenance of schools and technology.

Fifteen candidates ran for the seats. Of the candidates, eight oppose the tax and seven support it.

“It’s a community problem, and we need to decide how we are going to solve it,” LaRiviere, a tax supporter, said of the district's need for capital funds. “If the community votes no, then we will have to go back and regroup. But then everyone who voted no, we will need them to be providing us with answers."

Gittens said she thinks the tax was a factor in her race and will continue to be in the runoff. Gittens has issues with the tax.

“I think it was a factor in me getting 4,000 votes this time,” Gittens said.

Gittens said she thinks she resonated with voters because she has a background as a Lee County public schools' teacher and in business. She is a former vice president of training and development for Bank of America.

LaRiviere was a Lee County educator for 31 years. She retired in 2014 and successfully ran for the District 5 school board seat.

The District 4 race has come down to Jordan, who is an event planner and a caterer, and Armstrong, a plumber.

Armstrong is a former board member. He was elected to the board in 2010. When Armstrong ran for re-election in 2014, he lost. He made a futile attempt to win the District 6 board seat in 2016.

Jordan unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Lee County commission in 2014.

Jordan and Armstrong are split on the tax issue. Jordan supports it, and Armstrong does not.

“I feel very blessed and excited, and I am ready to go to November,” Jordan said. Efforts to reach Armstrong were unsuccessful.

Alexander’s professional career has included stints at Comcast, General Electric and Duke Energy.

He said he will continue to focus his message on reducing teacher attrition, school safety, building schools and technical and vocational training.

“We are really excited by the prospects and want to make sure that we get out and continue to earn voters trust and make sure that when we get into the November election that our message rings true,” Alexander said.